Sanitary tooth-brush holder.



W. 0. BLOOM.

SANITARY TOOTH BRUSH HOLDER. APPLICATION FILED JULY 24, 1911.

1,049,654. 'L Patented Jan.7,1913.

State of UNITED sTATEs rATENT oEEIcE.

WILLIAM O. BLOOM, OF WOBCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

ASANITARY TOOTH-BRUSH `Ht'l'alDlElB..

Specicat on otLLetters Patent. Application'led July 24,1811. Serial No. 040,102. I

To all whom z't may concern.'

Be it known that I, WILLIAM O. BLooM, a citizen of the United States, residing at Worcester in the county of Worcester` and Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Sanitary Toot of whichthe followlngl is The principal objects of this invention are to rovide a device of this character in which t e tooth brushes can be conveniently supported and easily removed and-in which they can be subjected constantly. to the action of formaldehyde or other-disinfectant while .inthe holder; also to provide a construction in which the full advantage of the sterilizing properties of, `sunlight can Abe utilized.

The invention also involves improvements in det-ails of construction as will appear hereinafter.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings in which,

Figure 1 is a brush holder constructed in accordance with this invention. Fig. 2 is a sectional view on the line` 2-2 of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

The device is' intended to be hung up on a vertical wall preferably in the direct sunlight. For this purpose a rear plate 10 is provided having a perforation 11 at the top so that it can be hung on a nail or hook. This plate. is provided at convenient elevation with`a plurality of pairs of prongs 12 for supporting tooth brushes against the surface of the plate 10. It is also provided above these rongs with a hook 13 curved n this hook is supported a 'a flat front wall 1-5 ls extending from it.

a specification.

cover plate' 14 lhavin and side and end wa By this arrangement it front plate can be supported against the back plate and will hang down therefrom in Contact with it all around at its edges. At the same time when it is desired to raise the front plate, this can be done by graspin a knob 16 at the bottom thereof and swinging it upwardly about the hook 13. Ordinarily, to remove or replace a tooth brush this plate is swung up part way only, but when it is desired to remove the plate it is simply swung of the end .of the hook. This permits the two parts of the tooth brush holder to be entirely separa d so that both can be cleaned thoroughly. .Y

At the bottom of theholder and mounted h-Brush Holder,

.will act upon them most front elevation of a toothy will be seen that the Patented Jan. '7, 1913.

on the back plate 10 is a container 17 for` formaldehyde or other disinfectant. I, prefer to fill this holder ,with amixture of formaldehyde `and boraxjso that the formaldehyde 7may bekept as dry and In condition forgiving olf the fumes which arise and actjon-the tooth brushes to dism'fect them. This holder :is shown as of Icylindrical form' held by metallic clips 18.

It is. arran d .in horizontal position and provided with caps 19 havingl perforated ends for the escape of the vapor. It will be seen thatl this is arranged in convenient po-v sition to be recharged or removed and d1- rectly under the brushes so that the fumes efliciently. At the same time the bristles of the brushes are arranged near the top of the container where the fumes will tend to remain so that the bristles are acted upon at all times.

Another important feature of this invention consists 1n the utilization of the sunlight to a maximum extent for the purpose of assisting in sterilizing the brushes. It is for this reason that the cover plate 15 is formed of light-transmitting material. It is preferably formed of transparent glass. With this arrangement (it being understood that the device is to be hung 1n the direct sunlight whenever possible) the sunlight is transmitted directly to thebrushes and in addition thereto, the front face 'of the plate 10 is made of reflecting materia, as for example, highly polished metal. This reects the rays of light which strike it. Therefore the rays of light which are not intercepted by the ward the plate a portion of them will act on the rear surfaces of the brushes with substantially the samel efficiency as they rectly upon them. In this Way the sunlight` acts upon all the surfaces of the brushes and thus the efficiency of the device for this purpose is very great. This effect is secured also in undiminished degree even when the light strikes Athe holder at an angle. This is very important because, as is well known, the direct rays of sunlight have a very great value for sterilizing purposes.

.Although l have illustrated and described a preferred embodiment of the invention, l am aware that modifications can be made therein by any person skilled in` the art without departing from the scope of the as possible would if acting diinvention as expressed in the claims. Therefore, I do not Wish to be limited to all the details of construction herein shown and described, but

Vhat I do claim is:-

1. As an article of manufacture, a tooth brush holder comprising a flat rear'supporting plate having a reflecting front surface and constructed and adapted to be hung in vertical position, said plate being provided with means projecting therefrom for supporting tooth brushes along its front face, and a cover of light-transmitting material having a plane front wall and side and 'end Walls projecting therefrom into contact with the back plate, said back plate having means located above the brush supportmg means for removably supporting the front plate.

2. As an article of manufacture, a tooth brush holder comprising a rear plate con-4 struc'ted and adapted to be hung in vertical position on av Wall and provided with means for supporting tooth brushes, and with an upwardly curved hook above them, and a plane front Wall and therefrom, the end wall at the top and front,

being provided with a perforation spaced from the edge thereof for receiving said hook and the 'bottom end wall with a projecting handle, whereby the front plate is supported by the hook and can be swung upwardly along the hook by means of the handle to expose brushes behind it.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM O. BLOOM. Witnesses:

ALBERT E. FAY,

CATHARINE IMELDA HARTNn'rr. 

